In the past year, patient volume in the emergency department at the Children’s Medical Center of Dayton has swelled by about a third. The loss of private insurance amid a worsening economy seems to be the largest single contributor to higher patient volumes, the head of Dayton Children’s emergency department said.
Dr. Douglas Prince also told about 50 physicians and state legislators Thursday, May 14, that cutting Medicaid reimbursement would only aggravate that trend.
“I’ve never seen such a dramatic increase in patients” in 33 years of practicing medicine, he said after the Miami Valley Legislative Forum on Health Care, sponsored by the Ohio State Medical Association and the Montgomery County Medical Society at MCMS, 40 S. Perry St.
And divorce creates fertile ground for abuse and misrepresentation in the state’s Medicaid system, doctors said, with one parent of a minor on Medicaid often declining to acknowledge the other parent has private insurance, complicating or sometimes preventing proper reimbursement. At Dayton Children’s, perhaps 5 percent or more of patients come from families with dual insurance, Prince said.
Family doctors also complained of the difficulties and onerous bureaucracy involved in trying to get fair reimbursement from private insurance companies and the government.
Mutual respect between insurance companies and doctors is needed, said Rep. Clayton Luckie (D-Dayton).
The news wasn’t all negative for doctors. Ohio medical malpractice insurance rates for the top five insurers have fallen 22 percent in the past four years after more than doubling between 2001 and 2005. That drop coincides with a 34 percent decline in medical liability lawsuits between 2005 and 2007 following sweeping changes to Ohio’s personal-injury lawsuit system.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7457 or bsutherly@DaytonDailyNews.com.
